Combined washing and drying apparatus



i 1934- A. E. HANBURY ET AL 1,968,681

COMBINED WASHING AND DRYING APPARATUS Filed April 27, 1928 3 Sheets-Sheet l y 1934. A. E. HANBURY ET AL COMBINED WASHING AND DRYING APPARATUS Filed April 27, 1928 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 1934- A. E. HANBURY ET AL 1,963,681

COMBINED WASHING AND DRYING APPARATUS Filed April 27, 1928 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 m 3} g a I N IQ T o i a? Jo I o i I I I I T b a I i I e i i V gnuzwfoz IgjfuM 100mm #1? I M rogue! Patented July 31, 1934 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE COMBINED WASHING- AND APPARATUS DRYING New Britain, Conn.,

neeticut a corporation of Con- Application April 27, 1928, Serial No. 273,374

scum.

This invention relates to a laundry apparatus having a washer tub wherein the clothes or other articles are washed, and a centrifugal drier adjacent the washer tub; and the invention has particular reference to an improved arrangement wherein the water discharged from the drier may be selectively conducted to several desirable points, such, for example, as back to the washer tub or to receptacles or tubs wherein the clothes are to be rinsed or blued.

The aim of the invention is to provide, in an apparatus of this sort, a very simple and economlcal arrangement by means of which the distribution of the water discharged from the drier may be effectively controlled.

In accordance with the present invention, there is provided a single valve for controlling the distribution of the water, and this valve is very conveniently placed and may be very easily and correctly operated by merely turning a handle to the desired indicated position.

Other objects will be in part obvious and in part pointed out hereinafter more in detail.

The invention accordingly consists in the features of construction, combination of elements and arrangement of parts which will be exemplifled in the construction hereinafter set forth, and the scope of the application of which will be indicated in the appended claims.

In the accompanying drawings, wherein is shown one form or embodiment which the invention may take:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of the entire assembly;

Fig. 2 is a top plan view with the covers for the drier removed and a portion of the drain board in section;

Fig. 3 is a vertical sectional view taken substantially on line 3--3 of Fig. 2.

Referring to the drawings in detail, the washing machine and the centrifugal drier are shown only in part as the specific constructions thereof and the manner in which the clothes are agitated and the drying receptacle is rotated form no particular parts of the present invention. The washer tub is designated generally by the letter A and may be mounted on a platform 10 supported by suitable posts 11 having on their lower ends casters 12 so that the apparatus is portable.

The upper end of the tub has the usual inturned flange 13. The tub may be provided with any suitable agitating device, such, for example, as an oscillating dolly having a plurality of radiating flns, the dolly not being shown in the present instance, andthe mechanism through which it is driven being omitted, as such arrangements are old and well-known in the art.

Immediately adjacent the washer tub is the drying apparatus which is preferably of the wellknown type having a whirling or revolvable imperforate container B the walls of which are inclined upwardly and outwardly. The means for revolving the container B is not illustrated, as this may be of any suitable type, it being obvious that a motor or other suitable prime mover may be attached to the apparatus for driving the agitator or dolly of the washer and for rotating the drying receptacle. If desired, the drying receptacle may be surrounded by a shell or casing 14 suitably supported on the platform 10. The container B, adjacent its upper end, is provided with a pluraity of openings 20 through which flows the water extracted from the clothes. The container may also be provided with a radial flange 21 for directing the water which flows through the openings 20 into the annular reservoir or channel hereinafter described in detail. Also, the container may be provided at its upper end with an inturned flange 22.

In accordance with the present invention, there is provided a stationary drain board C provided with an annular channel or reservoir 25 about the upper end of the drying container B. This drain board is preferably formed from an integral casting and is fixedly supported at one end on the top of the washer tub A and at its other end on one of the posts 11, as will be seen most clearly from Fig. 3. The channel or reservoir 25 is formed between a pair of upstanding annular webs or flanges 26 and 27.

The radial flange 21 of the container B extends over the inner flange 27 so as to direct the water which flows through the openings 20 into the channel 25. Along each side edge of the drain board is an upstanding lip or flange 28 so as to prevent any water which, during the act of transierring the clothes, may drip onto the drain board from running off the edges of the board. Thus, any water that drips onto the drain board w 11 flow either back into the washer tub or in e stationary bluing or rinsing tubs.

At the forward end of the drain board (i. e. that end remote from the tube A) the reservoir has an outlet 29 which leads to a horizontally disposed cylindrical chamber 30, the bottom of which is below the bottom of the reservoir. Leadthe chamber and opens into the forward end of the drain board. The passageway 33 leads laterally in the other direction and also opens into the forward end of the drain board, while the passageway 32 is in the bottom of the chamber. This passageway 32 may be connected by means of a pipe or tube 34 to the washer tub.

Located within the chamber 30 is a three-way cock or valve 35 which is of generally cylindrical and hollow form and is open at its inner or rear end to the reservoir through the outlet 29. The outer end of the valve is closed by a wall 3'7 and the skirt portion of the valve has a single port 38 which is adapted to be selectively registered with the passageways 31, 32 and 33. The valve is held in place by a cap or plate 40 secured to the drain board in any suitable manner, as by means of screws 41. The valve has a stem 42 extending through the plate 40 and carrying on its outer end a lever or handle 43 by means of which the valve may be conveniently turned.

The handle has a pointer 44. The outer face of the plate 40 may bear suitable indicia, such as the words Blue", Tub and "Rinse, angularly spaced apart and with which the pointer 44 is adapted to cooperate so as to indicate the proper positions of the valve. In the present illustrative disclosure, it is assumed, for purposes of example only, that the passageway 31 will be employed for conducting the water from the annular reservoir back to the bluing receptacle or tub and the passageway 33 will be employed for conducting rinsing water from the reservoir back to a rinsing receptacle or tub. Pivoted for angular adjustment to the drain board is a drip pan 45 for directing the water from the conduits or passageways 31, 33 and 51 to suitable receptacles or tubs. This pan preferably has a rib or elevation along its center so as to confine the water as it flows down the pan.

In order to empty the dirty water from the washer tub A in a convenient manner, this tub is connected by means of a pipe 50 to a passageway 51 in the drain board. This passageway discharges at the forward end of the drain board and onto the drip pan 45. Interposed in the pipe is a pump 52 of any suitable construction and which may be driven by the motor which operates the washing machine and the drier.

The manner in which our improved arrangement is employed is briefly as follows. After the clothes have been washed in the tub A for the desired length of time, they are placed in the drying receptacle B which is thereupon rotated at a relatively high speed so that the water, due to centrifugal force, will be pressed out of the clothes and the water will flow up the side walls of the receptacle, through the openings 20 and into the reservoir or channel 25.

If it is desired to conduct this water back to the washer tub for further use, the handle 43 will be turned into the upright or mid position shown in Fig. 1 so that the port 38 of the valve is in registry with the passageway 32 leading to the pipe 34. If'the dirty water extracted from the clothes is not to be further used, the apparatus may be moved to the position where the end of the drip pan overhangs a sink and the 'valve turned so that the water will be discharged through either the passageway 31 or 33. If, after the clothes have been washed, it is desired to rinse them, this may be done in a stationary rinsing tub and, after they have been rinsed, they may be placed in the container B and dried. The rinsing water discharged from the drying container into the reservoir 25 may be led back into the rinsing tub by turningthe valve to the position shown in Figs. 2 and 3, thus connecting the reservoir with the passageway 33. Likewise, if the clothes are to be blued, this may be done in a bluing tub and then the clothes placed in the drier. The bluing water extracted from the clothes may be conducted back to the bluing tub by turning the handle to the third position and where the port 38 registers with the passageway 31.

As many changes could be made in the above construction and many apparently widely different embodiments of this invention could be made without departing from the scope thereof, it'is intended that all matter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawings shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

It is also to be understood that the language used in the following claims is intended to cover all of the generic and specific features ofthe invention herein described and all statements of the scope of the invention which, as a matter of language, might be'said to fall therebetween.

We claim as our invention:

1. In an apparatus of the character described, a rotatable imperforate drying container, 2. stationary drain board about the upper end of saidcontainer and having an annular reservoir into which said container discharges, a valve chamber in said drain board and to which said reservoir delivers, the bottom of said chamber being below the bottom of said reservoir, there being a plurality of passageways leading from said chamber, a rotatable valve mounted in said chamber and having an opening adapted to be selectively registered with said passageways, and a handle for turning said valve.

2. In an apparatus of the character described,

a vertically disposed rotatable drying container; a drain board about the upper end of said container and having one end projecting beyond the same, said drain board having an annular reservoir into which said container discharges, said reservoir having an outlet in its peripheral wall, a horizontally'disposed cylindrical valve chamber in said projecting end of said drainboard and to which chamber said reservoir delivers through said outlet, there being a plurality of passageways in said drain board leading from circumferentially spaced points of said valve chamber to the end face of said projecting end of said drain board, there also being a passageway leading from said chamber to the under side of said projecting end of said drain board, arotary valve in said chamber having an opening adapted to be selectively registered with said passageways, and'a handle for turning said valve.

ALFRED E. HANBURY. FRED W. JUENGST. OSCAR M. ANDERSON. 

